SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Beethoven and Rachmaninov: John Lill (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Roberto Minczuk. Royal Festival Hall, London, 19. 1.2008 (BBr)

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.1 in C, op.15
Rachmaninov, Symphony No.2 in E minor, op.27


I imagine that for some time to come any discussion of concerts given in the Royal Festival Hall will have to give some time to the recent refurbishment.

The last concert I heard in the RFH, before the refurbishment, comprised the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.3. Although the acoustic was always slightly dry, on that evening the pianissimos were so quiet that you were sitting on the ege of your seat, straining to hear the music, and the fortissimos nailed you to the back of your chair. True, the bass was always on the light side but the sound had a wide dynamic range. What I have noticed on the occasions I have attended since the re-opening, and this is true of wherever I was sitting, is that the bass is now full, deep and very rich, the middle sonorities are full and ripe but the top has been cut drastically and is dull and muted. The whole sound world is muddled in loud music and there is a total absense of a real pianissimo. It is most unpleasant.

Beethoven’s 1st Piano Concerto straddles the period from Mozartean classical elegance and the newer, more radical, style Beethoven was moving towards. John Lill is the perfect advocate for this music but all was not well tonight. Although the orchestra was reduced, the string section was too large – as far as I could see there were 10.8.6.6.3 – and in the new acoustic often sounded too thick and cloying, and the overall balance was poor. The piano boomed and sounded tinny and throughout I had the feeling that Lill had little sympathy for the music and was in direct combat with the orchestra. The only players who benefitted from the new sound were the members of the wind band who played, and sounded, crisp, clear and well focused. I found this to be a painful experience, best forgotten, but in truth I really couldn’t tell exactly how good the performance really was.

Things fared slightly better in the second half with Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony,  but there were still problems. The sound of the large orchestra (including ten double basses, giving a firm and steady bass line) easily filled the hall but, again, the muddled sound was disheartening. A few examples. At the start of the development section of the first movement there is a short solo for the leader: this was easily overshadowed by the light woodwind accompaniment. In the scherzo, the glockenspiel, although perfectly audible, sounded tinny and unfocused. Delicate filigree work in the strings was often lost in the murk – too much movement to be captured clearly.

The performance was excellent. The orchestra responded well to everything Minczuk demanded of it, he’d obviously given much consideration to his interpretation, which was only marred by a few moments of unneccessary rubato. The ebb and flow of the first movement was handled expertly, the scherzo was wild and free, the slow movement rich and romantic and the finale raced headlong to its thrilling conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the interpretation, but I can’t be as enthusiastic about the sound. As with the Beethoven it was the wind and brass sections which spoke most clearly to the audience, and what a bunch of fine players they are. The strings came across less successfully.

For me, much more work needs to be done to make the sound as clear as it used to be. Keep the richer sound by all means but give us back the high frequencies which will help remove the feeling of confusion in the sound.


Bob Briggs

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